Diversity in the Sierra Club

Interesting Greenwire article: “The green movement lacks diversity. She’s here to help.

At the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest environmental organization, the senior staff is around 92 percent white.

Nellis Kennedy-Howard is on a mission to improve diversity at the Sierra Club and across the mainstream environmental movement.

The 36-year-old is the organization’s first-ever director of equity, inclusion and justice. When she took the job in fall 2016, she was counting on the Sierra Club to take those issues seriously.

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6 thoughts on “Diversity in the Sierra Club”

  1. Hi Steve,

    Do you know what percentage of senior staff at Society of American Foresters is white? But it’s pretty darn high. Also, bet the percentage of senior staff at SAF that’s male is much higher than Sierra Club. Just wondering if SAF has any information about this handy.

    P.S. Also the entire article you link to is behind a paywall, except for the 1st sentence. Can you please provide a link to the report that is referenced? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Matthew, the Society of American Foresters has a staff of 15 (we are currently without a CEO and a Membership Services Director). Of the 15, 11 are female and 4 are non-white. Examples: Our Chief of Staff & Chief Operating Officer is Louise Murgia, CF. Our Chief Financial Officer, David Seabrook, is black. I am proud to serve with these fine folks and happy to say that we have a diverse staff.

      SAF’s membership is about 88% male and about 92% white. Last year SAF adopted a Diversity and Inclusion Policy:

      The Society of American Foresters is committed to diversity and inclusion in our leadership, membership, programs, and activities. SAF seeks to connect with those who value forests and their benefits, creating an abundance of dedicated professionals and volunteers eager and willing to advance the sustainable management of our forest resources. SAF strives to promote an environment designed to embrace our differences in which all community members are welcomed and valued. Successfully engaging people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives strengthens our communities, provides essential resources, and creates thriving forests. Broad participation by diverse people within our membership, the forestry community, partner organizations, landowners, and other stakeholders is essential to fulfilling our mission.

      Reply
        • The Green 2.0 report? There’s a link to 2 reports in the Greenwire article:

          http://www.diversegreen.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BeyondDiversity_NGO_Scorecard.Final_.pdf

          “Green 2.0 recently released a report that found people of color account for 27 percent of staff at the country’s top 40 mainstream environmental organizations. When it comes to board members, that figure drops to 22 percent. And for senior staff, it’s 14 percent.”

          https://www.diversegreen.org/beyond-diversity/

          A more comprehensive Green 2.0 report looked at diversity within 191 conservation organizations, 74 government environmental agencies and 28 environmental grantmaking foundations. It found that “all three types of environmental institutions have made significant progress on gender diversity, but the gains have mostly gone to white women, and much remains to be done.”

          Reply

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